HFMD hits the kiddos

The dreaded four letter word hit the kids about two weeks back... HFMD somehow found its way into our home..

On 26th Feb, Sat, we had gone for the RC Open House activity downstairs... I brought JE to the playground and the kiosk activities around the blocks while JY napped.. after lunch, we went down a second round for more balloons and the lucky draw.. I washed the kids' hands immediately once they came home...

Somehow, JY started having a bit of runny nose on Sun night, was feverish late on Mon noon, and drooling alot and even left puddles on the floor.. I brought him to the GP opposite home after dinner, and got some flu, cough and fever meds.. his fever spiked overnight and the next morning, I went to get additional meds for the high fever.. it went up and down.. however, on Tues night, he did not want to drink milk and I felt that we had to go to the PD in the morning, afraid that he was gonna be dehydrated as he only drank porridge water and some milk...

He cried profusely at TMC PD clinic on Wed morning, and thankfully the nurses sped up our queue... N upon checking, Dr Tan said JY had caught HFMD... The nurse and Dr were startled as I had gone in telling them about flu and high fever only.. but a check in his mouth showed 20 over ulcers... That was the cause of his uncontrollable salivating, poor appetite and constant crying... I started tearing too, not knowing how he could have caught the virus and it had been so serious... Dr asked about admission, which I had already been prepared for when I asked hubby to bring us to TMC.. but still the diagnosis was akin to a bolt of lightning across my heart... I called my mum and asked her to take note of  abnormalities for JE, as she had flu too and I had kept her from school since Tuesday... I also updated hubby and he came over to assist with admissions as I was rather distraught along with my crying baby...

I took leave from office and over the next few days in hospital, I cuddled and cradled JY like a koala bear to sleep, as at home, we used the yaolan... He cried everytime the nurses came in, as they gave him meds, took temperature and held him while I peed, made milk or washed the bottles..

thankfully, we had full insurance coverage and was able to stay in a 1-bedder room without worry about the bills... A super fussy koala plus another fussy kid would have caused me to go mad... Occasionally, there were crying kids outside the corrider, and my own crying baby sometimes added to the ruckus... I'm glad I didn't need to share a room or be worried about being embarrassed my kid is fussy... Dr had said JY's CRP infection index was 150 when the norm was 5!!!  Antibiotics was given after x-ray and urine tests were done...

Hubby took care of JE at home, and I went home a couple of hours in the noon on Thursday to rest while our helper and hubby stationed at the hospital.. JE had wanted to play with me but I was too tired, having been interrupted frequently by night feeds and temperature taking sessions... Hubby and JE stayed over at mum's while JY and I were at the hospital.. On Fri while we changed shifts, mum said JE had high fever and seemed like there were some ulcers... I came home, bathed and went with mum and her back to the PD.. and JE got diagnosed for HFMD too... She had to stay away from. School for a week... Horrors of horrors for two HFMD kids...

JY was discharged on Sat, with 2 ulcers left... However, the antibiotics gave both kids diarrhea... We changed about 8-10 diapers for each kid over Sunday and JY had diaper rash and burn on his buttocks, crying alot... I decided we had to go to the 24-hour clinic at TMC... Stop orders were given, along with anti-diarrhea meds and probiotics... On Monday, I called Dr Tan's clinic to check on. Whether stopping the antibiotics was ok, and only got through to them at night... Dr said to go in for blood tests the next morning... And off we went again on Tuesday and spent an entire morning there... Good news was JY was cleared for HFMD, but JE had to be checked again on 13th March to ensure her ulcers were clear...

So far, we are self-quarantined at mum's, and came back home on Thursday evening. The medical bills are $6000+ and counting... JY's could likely be claimed in full but not sure about JE... Anyways, I'm hoping for an all clear on Monday.... And for all viruses to stay far away... Permanently...

Jen's 1st school semester

Time flies.. Or well, I've been lazy... JE has finished her first school term!!

Wow, I had wanted to write about what to expect when she started school.. oh well, it's never too late..

Thinking back to early-2016, we took a long time choosing a pre-school for her as I had mistakenly looked on ECDA's website for pre-schools.. actually my Popo had asked me to find PCF would do.. what is good is that we have a quite a few around the estate, PCF kindergartens as well as other pre-schools... We visited a Carpe Diem outlet at Fajar, I liked it, but it's 8 bus stops away... Abit troublesome for my helper to fetch JE.to and fro... I spent months searching, shortlisting and mapping pre-schools, in the end, we just registered with the one about 5-10 minutes walk away...

Registration took place I think in Q3 of the year before a child enters N1.. we kept calling the school to find out when the registration was taking place as the registration banner facing our daily route to and fro home wasn't updated.. on the day itself, kiasu me and hubby, frightened by stories of overnight queueing for famous pre-schools queued up at the Pcf kindergarten around 7.15am when registration only opened at 8am.. Popo actually stoked the fear by saying faster go and queue.. ended up, hubby was the earliest and the teachers hadn't even reached school. At around 7.50, then we saw a second parent join us outside the school.. all was smooth and we got our preferred timeslot..

Wind back to January 2017, on the first day of school, parents are invited to join their children at school for an orientation session. A teacher-in-charge would welcome all parents and children into the classroom, give a little information about a handbook, some brief description of daily schedules, and bring us all about the activities room and a dining room.

What I liked was that they shifted this youngest class nearest the principal office... What left us aghast was that a classmate was having horrible flu, sneezed long yellow snot, and the cooking auntie asked JE and the girl to shake hands to "make friends"! I was horrified and trying hard not to fuss... We rushed out of class once the briefings ended..

JE took very well to school, she was first mesmerised by YouTube during the first 3 days of school when teachers were trying to be lax and ease all the kids into school..  I'm very thankful she loved school and going to play with teachers and friends every day.. a couple of weeks back, her teacher asked if we let her watch lots of YouTube at home since she knew almost all the songs they sang in school.. well, actually she watched a combination of SCV  kids' karaoke and YouTube...

Both me n hubby had been very excited to join her first school excursion to the Singapore Repertory Theatre for Peter Rabbit but unfortunately, both kids caught HFMD.. that's another story to share...

On Wednesdays when I bring her to school, I see some of the handicrafts they did in school.. otherwise, I don't actually know what she does in her 2 hours in school.. everyday she's eating her favourite noodles/ bread and milo or rice... For sure she know.. otherwise, not sure what learning there was.. I had wanted to ask her teachers during the excursion, but wells, I hope I can get a refund for the 3 pax I paid for but couldn't attend.. still awaiting for the principal's reply...

Hope JE would always enjoy learning!!!